This story was originally published by The Merced FOCUS.
About once a month, the inside of the Merced Senior Center transforms into a dark, thumping night club – complete with a DJ, flashing lights and a snack bar that serves mocktails and nonalcoholic beer.
The pop-up event, known as Club 67, isn’t a typical nightclub.
The event provides a “judgement-free zone” for Merced’s adult disabled community to experience a nightclub environment where adults with disabilities can dance and visit with friends without worrying about mixing alcohol with medications or being treated poorly by other club goers who may not understand their disabilities.
“If you ever want to see what pure happiness is, you should see these guys dance,” said Krista Stokes, who creates T-shirts for the event and has a 22-year-old daughter who attends.
Last month, Club 67 celebrated with a Cinco de Mayo theme on May 9, a Friday night.
Attendees formed a conga line and danced around the room to “Shake Your Body” by The Jacksons before line dancing to “Cupid Shuffle.” They posed for photos in a photobooth and got their faces painted. They won raffle prizes, such as a karaoke microphone, stuffed animals, nail art kits and the coveted Club 67 T-shirts.
The event was started about two years ago by Elisabete “Liz” Dobbins, who runs the Chance Dobbins Sr. Charity, named after her late husband. The name of Club 67 honors her late brother-in-law, who was born in 1967.
Dobbins witnessed firsthand how people with disabilities were frequently mistreated when attending nightclubs for the general public.
“When I used to go to the club …I saw a lot of individuals being taken advantage of, being made fun of, and the people just didn’t really care about them,” Dobbins told The Merced FOCUS in an interview. “I had said, ‘You know, one day, I would like to have a club that they can call their own.’”
Now, it’s a reality.
Kevin Decker, 44, said he’s been coming to Club 67 “for years.” He enjoys seeing his dad and his best friend, Mark, participating in the raffles and eating the pizza.
“I like it here a lot. It’s been a lot of years. I have a lot of friends here,” Decker said.
Stokes said her daughter Emma loves it, too. Emma has cerebral palsy and seizure disorder and uses a wheelchair. She bounced in her wheelchair inside the club, waving her arms with the music.
“Emma loves to dance. She loves music,” Stokes said. “She is 22, and a situation like this gives Emma a chance to come and do something that normal 22-year-old girls are doing all across the world. Now she gets to do it with her own peers and her own friends.”
For Stokes, Club 67 gives her daughter an experience she otherwise may not have.
“It gives her one night a month where she’s just like everybody else. And as a parent, that’s the best thing we can hope for,” Stokes said, fighting back tears. “It makes me really happy for her that she has this opportunity, because that’s something I never thought my daughter would get.”
Many of the disabled adults who attend bring their family. Plus, staff from local adult day programs show up to see their clients outside of work.
For instance, Lori Pyne showed up with her son, Matt, who attends the local adult day program run by the Chance Dobbins Sr. Charity.
“This is the only evening program that Matt has available to him, other than things we do as a family, that he can do with his friends,” Pyne said. “It’s kind of fun. It’s Friday night after a hard day of work at the program.”
Dobbins partners with local businesses and the city of Merced’s Parks and Community Services department to put the event on. Stokes’ donates Club 67 T-shirts made through her business, Code 3 Ink. Uriah Perez, a local DJ and co-owner of T.A.G. Team Events and Productions, serves as emcee for the night and has even trained up some attendees to fill in for him when he needs a break.
“I do a lot of gigs monthly, but this is one of my favorite ones because if you just look (around), everybody’s having a great time,” Perez said. “There’s no frowns – you know, unless they don’t get picked for a raffle.”
Through the Chance Dobbins Sr. Charity, Dobbins offers other programs and services for the disabled community, which she said is underserved and “forgotten.” For instance, the Dobbins Charity organizes Christmas gift drives and community haircut events.
Dobbins hopes to one day purchase a building to house her nonprofit and its various programs, including the night club event.
“My dream, my vision, for my purpose, is to have my own building to where we will have this on a more weekly basis, just like a traditional club. You know, (so) they go out on a Friday and enjoy that moment,” Dobbins said.